This week at Royal St. George’s, the 149th Open Championship – more commonly known in the U.S. as the British Open — has eight highly rated players who come into the year’s final major playing real solid golf. Let’s walk through the list in Hawley Ratings order:

• Jon Rahm, no. 1 – There are some clunkers in his background – two missed cuts this spring/ summer – but he has six top-10s in the last four months, including in all three majors. His game fits the typical Open Championship course configuration.
• Xander Schauffele, no. 2 – Has top-10s in the Masters and U.S. Open, missed the cut at the PGA, and all other finishes in the last four months have been no worse than 21st. Should fit the course.
• Collin Morikawa, no. 8. Kind of laid an egg in Scotland last week (71st) but the four before that included three top-10s (including U.S. Open and PGA) and a top-20. Should fit the course.
• Patrick Cantlay, no. 10. His best in any of the majors was 15th in the U.S. Open, however he leads Tour in FedEx Cup points. Last four results include the Memorial win, the U.S. Open, and two others within the top 25. Should fit the course.
• Louis Oosthuizen, no. 12. First time back in Europe was kind of a bummer when he was 42nd in Germany at the end of June. U.S. events were another story altogether. He was runner-up in both the PGA and U.S. Open, had three other top-10s, and made 11 straight cuts.
• Harris English, no. 13. Aptly-named Georgian was great around New Year’s, dropped back into the pack for four months, then came back with a top-20 at the Palmetto, a third at the U.S. Open, and the Travelers win.
• Brooks Koepka, no. 18. Would be ranked a lot higher if not for roller coaster tendencies. Won at Phoenix, has two runner-up finishes (including the PGA), and has three other top-10s this year. Oh yeah, and five missed cuts and one other finish way back in the pack. Should fit the course.
• Jordan Spieth, no. 21. It’s not completely clear that he’s headed back to a spot in the top two of the world rankings, a feat attained a few years back, but it is clear that he’s amassed six top-10s (including the Texas win) and four other top-20s since the start of February. Won this event in 2017. Second on the Tour with 13 straight made cuts.

Top-20 players missing from the above are Rory McIlroy (2014 winner), Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed, Abraham Ancer, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler, Paul Casey, Tyrrell Hatton, and Tony Finau, all great players and winners but none of them arriving with a strut.

Royal St. George’s Golf Club is in Sandwich, Kent, in southeast England, about 20 miles north of the narrowest point in the English Channel. It is the only course on the Open Championship rotation that is in southern England. Per the Hawley course fit statistics, shots gained around the green, shots gained off the tee, and shots gained in approach are the three stats most closely correlated with success in the last eight Open Championships.

Here are some names from a bit off the top of the ratings:

• Lucas Herbert, no. 79 – 25-year-old Australian made the top 20 in two U.S. starts in June, then headed to Europe to win the Irish Open and finish fourth in the Scottish. Should fit the course.
• Branden Grace, no. 82 – 33-year-old South African won in Puerto Rico in February and had back-to-back top 10s in the Memorial and U.S. Open. These finishes highlight an otherwise up-and-down season.
• Zach Johnson, no. 86 – Has a great record in this event; won in 2015 and has two other top-10s and three other top-20s since 2012. Has only one top-10 in 16 Tour appearances this year. (Everybody knows Zach is in his 40s and from Iowa, or it would have been mentioned earlier.)
• Guido Migliozzi, no. 102 – 24-year-old Italian finished runner-up in back-to-back Euro events, then traveled to U.S. and was fourth in the U.S. Open and in the top 20 at the Travelers.
• Richard Bland, no. 197 – 48-year-old Englishman has a win (English Masters), two other top-10s, and a top-20 in his last five appearances, all on the Euro Tour. Was 50th in the U.S. Open.

And a final thought. Can you believe the Official World Golf Ratings has Dustin Johnson as world no. 1? I mean, great player, terrific athlete. But the guy hasn’t had a top-10 finish in 10 events since he was eighth in the Genesis in February. World no. 1?